Responsibility and road crash recovery

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Those who place responsibility for road accidents on others have worse mental and physical health outcomes than those who blame themselves, new research shows.

Led by Monash University research fellow Jason Thompson, the study examined the relationship between accident circumstances and post-accident health outcomes by taking into account people’s injuries, age, gender, education, job status and the amount of time passed since the crash.

Reported pain, anxiety around traffic, levels of depression and low return-to-work rates were among the poor outcomes documented, with the causation thought to have been related to the extent of control the driver had in preventing a crash from occurring.

The findings offer insurers, compensation agencies, medical professionals and employers a greater understanding of accident recovery and how different circumstances produce different levels of trauma.